Tuesday, July 2, 2013

CDs of Note - Short Takes

One of the most interesting number patterns
isPascal's Triangle,which is named after French
mathematician Blaise Pascal. One of the more interesting modern acousticjazz trios is Pascal’s Triangle, led by pianist
Pascal Le Boeuf with very strong support from bassist Linda Oh and drummer Justin
Brown. The trio’s eponymous CD debut celebrates the players’ adventurous chemistry on eight original Le Boeuf compositions. There is a wide
variety of material to savor here with a variety of rhythms and melodies. Some
will dig their fresh angular intensity. I relished the more balladic material,
including “Song for Ben Van Gelder” and “Return to You.” The more uptempo and
mood-shifting “Home in Strange Places” and “Variations on a Mood” are also
exquisite.

This
is a tour de forcefor the technique and
the emotion that Marc Cary conveys. It’s his first solo piano recording in a
career that has seen him accompany vocalists ranging from Betty Carter, Abbey
Lincoln and Shirley Horn to Erykah Badu and Ani DiFranco, among others. Here,
he pays homage to Lincoln, for whom he played piano for a dozen years. The CD
includes eight tunes written by Lincoln – who had a style and sound all her own
– plus Duke Ellington’s “Melancholia,” which Lincoln loved to hear him play,
and two Cary originals: “For Moseka” and the interlude “Transmutate.” Anyone
greatly familiar with Lincoln’s work before she died in 2010 will hear her
words resonate through Cary’s lyric interpretations from the keyboard – and his
heart.

The
band name says it all. This debut recording is all about classic jazz tunes
interpreted in straight-ahead fashion by three Southwest Florida musicians:
pianist Joe Delaney, bassist Kevin Mauldin and drummer-producer Phil Tirino.
Delaney, who divides his year between Florida and Cape Cod, is a dynamic and
fearless keyboard adventurer. Mauldin straddles two genres – as principal
bassist for the Naples Philharmonic and a first-call jazz bassist when his
classical concert schedule permits. Punta Gorda resident Tirino keeps a strong
and creative beat on the various rhythms. Favorites: their bold and bluesy take
on “Teach Me Tonight,” their interpretation of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s bossa
nova “Triste” and their extended, edgy romp through Paul Desmond’s “Take Five.”
In concert, Delaney has a knack for turning one tune into five or six other
melodies before resolving back into the original. He restrains himself on this
session; offering just a few glimmers of other songs, particularly on “Triste”
and “How High the Moon.” Perhaps we’ll be treated to more of that in the
future.